


you've been holding on (when others would be gone)

by lumberwoof



Series: elderbees au [4]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Character Death(s), F/F, Gen, also this is pre-relationship bumbleby, lots of hurt and marginal amounts of comfort, none of the main 4 tho, post hypothetical vol 8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:40:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23817046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lumberwoof/pseuds/lumberwoof
Summary: As a child, her uncle had often told her that bad things happened in threes. And when it rains, it pours.(aka Yang suffers three losses, two of them permanent)
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Series: elderbees au [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1736008
Comments: 2
Kudos: 74





	you've been holding on (when others would be gone)

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to formerly apologize, in advance, to all members of team RWBY, but especially Yang Xiao Long

"I'll be more help to you than them," was all Maria said as she slipped into the pilot's seat of the airship.

"Just go, we'll handle this," were the words Jaune spoke when Weiss looked back, almost hesitant to board. The muffled din of Mantle's ongoing revolution in the background.

Behind him, Nora and Ren nodded, faces grim. Penny rushed forward to wrap Weiss in a hug, her voice trembling. "I wish I could go with you but I can't. Please, save her."

Weiss choked back tears, giving Penny a firm squeeze in return. She pulled back quickly and then darted onto the airship, where she took stock of everyone else.

Blake - with a fresh, angry scar that was still healing across her face - was helping Yang into her seat. Yang looked blank, discordant, enraged, and distraught all at the same time. Like all her emotions had reared their head and spilled over until her body just... stopped, unable to process. Qrow was in the back, hunched over in his seat, elbows on his knees. He looked pale and queasy as the airship lifted off, desperately reaching for his flask and unscrewing it before the scent reached his nose. He hurled it angrily out the open door of the airship and buried his face in his hands.

Weiss took one last look out the open door at her friends below. Everyone was looking up at her. "Save her," Jaune mouthed.

Tears beading in the corners of her eyes, Weiss could only nod, and then she closed the door.

Shaking, Weiss focused on her breathing, trying to figure out what to do next. It was one thing when the team was separated, on their own and operating independently. But this was different, Ruby was in enemy hands and they had to work quickly to get her back. Long ago, Weiss would've believed that she was next in line to lead the team if Ruby were incapacitated for whatever reason, but now she knew better - who could ever replace Ruby? Not her, who had been raised to rule, but never lead. Not Blake, who caved into herself when things got tough. Not Yang, who sat like a grieving statue, shaking like a leaf, like a volcano about to erupt. And definitely not Qrow, who could barely lead himself on good days.

Oscar stepped from the front seat, his eyes glowing. Ozpin. "I thought she wanted me," he said. "I'm sorry. I—"

"Don't," Blake warned, voice sharp like a blade, dripping with venom. Yang trembled and shook next to her, fists clenching and unclenching, eyes flashing rapidly between lilac and red.

Weiss shook her head, knowing that they needed to talk about it, but that talking about it might also set off Yang. She looked desperately to Blake, who seemed to understand.

"C'mon," Blake murmured to Yang softly, gently helping her up and leading her towards the door to the cargo bay, where Yang could have some privacy.

Qrow looked up as the door opened next to him, but he couldn't seem to say anything. All he managed to get out was a weak, "Firecracker," that had Yang choking back a sob as she rushed into the cargo room, Blake closing the door behind them. 

Collapsing on the floor and sobbing, Yang was barely aware of Blake dropping to her knees next to her and gathering her up in her arms. "Oh, Yang," she said. She wanted to say it was okay, that it would all be fine, but she couldn't. "Just let it all out," she said, hands running up and down Yang's back soothingly.

Yang sobbed into her neck, arms squeezing tight around her midsections, fingers gripping her jacket fiercely. "Why?! Why did it have to be my little sister? Why does it have to be us?" She cried, ugly and growling, into Blake's neck. "Why did it take Ozpin a thousand fucking years to do something?!"

"I wish I had answers for you," Blake said, murmuring into Yang's hair. "But we'll get her back, Yang. I—"

"Don't," Yang warned. "Don't make promises, not about this."

"...Okay," Blake said, heart tight. 

The thought of not being able to get Ruby back was awful and constricting. Those final moments, spiraling through the air a thousand feet up with Ruby, slicing through Grimm. Ruby focusing the light in her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that night, and then her body just going limp, a small hint of blood dripping from her nose before another Grimm crashed into them both, snatching the unconscious Ruby as it sent Blake into a desperate tailspin, Gambol flying from her hands and blood pouring from her face, unable to do anything except watch as her leader was carried away. 

Meanwhile Weiss and Yang fought on the other side of the battlefield, completely unaware.

When Blake found her way back to the rest of the team, limping as her paper-thin aura staunched the blood pouring from the wound on her face. When she had looked up at them, they must've seen it in her face. The way both of their expressions had crumbled in that moment - the way Weiss had cocked her head in disbelief, the way Yang had taken a step back, like she needed to run, to explode, to shatter the earth beneath her - would be burned into Blake's brain forever.

 _'I'm sorry,'_ she wanted to say. But the words got stuck in her throat. Saying them would only be for own benefit, not Yang's, and right now it was Yang who needed relief.

Yang pulled back from Blake harshly and turned to throw her fists into some of the empty cargo crates, hitting with such force that she dented the bulletproof metal. Her prosthetic hand sparked and her flesh knuckles bruised, even through her thick aura. After several tense, painfully loud moments, she collapsed against the crate, crying again. And Blake embraced her again, careful and tender. Shoulders heaving with each breath, Yang finally seemed to be calming down, her hands sliding down to cover Blake's, taking comfort in the contact.

"Ready to listen to Weiss plan things? Or do you still need some time?" Blake asked.

"I—" Yang swallowed thickly, choked back another sob and scrubbed at her face. "I can do it. I just—I don't like people seeing me like this," Yang said.

"No one expects you to be stoic about this, Yang," Blake said. "You don't have to be strong right now."

Yang trembled in her arms, spun and curled into Blake's embrace again, making herself small so she could fit in Blake's lap, head tucked into the crook of Blake's neck. Blake wrapped her up in her arms as best she could, hand stroking Yang's hair and pressing soft kisses to the top of her head as she rocked gently. "We'll go back in there, make some plans, and then we'll kick Salem's ass," Blake said. "She doesn't know who she just picked a fight with."

A watery chuckle was Yang's response and Blake managed a weak smile in return. It was hard not to blame herself for what happened, but there were so many other things that mattered more right now. She'd made a promise to stay, and she had to keep it. "I don't care if she's some sort of god," Yang replied. "I'll punch her in the face. I don't give a flying fuck."

Blake gave Yang another pat on the back, and then helped Yang shakily stand up, resting a hand on Yang's shoulder when they were both up on their feet.

Opening the door back into the main hold, Yang slumped into the empty seat next to Qrow and leaned into him, his arm immediately coming up to wrap around her shoulders and squeeze her close.

Blake looked at her seat and then decided to keep standing, legs restless as Weiss nodded towards her again.

"Alright, we got a rundown on the layout of Salem's hideout from you know who," Weiss started shakily, pulling out her scroll. Oscar was seated on the wall opposite of the Qrow, eyes back to their usual colour, looking somewhat despondent. "And it's not a Ruby-level plan by any stretch, but it's a plan, and it's going to get us Ruby back. So here goes."

—

The airship would be spotted too easily in the air above the Wastes, so the group had to land on Vacuo's coast and snag a seafaring vessel instead. Only one was willing to navigate the treacherous waters to the Wastes, but one was all they needed. Grimm would be a constant threat, even more so than any other place that they'd traveled. And while Oscar and Maria were capable of defending themselves, they weren't fully capable hunters, meaning that the other four were left on rotating guard duty as the ship made it's way through ten foot swells and thunderstorms that seemed to materialize out of nowhere.

Right now, Qrow was on deck, bearing the sudden downpour as he kept his eye out for Grimm. Weiss had retreated to her room to look over the plans again, taking an overly critical eye to every detail. It was worrisome behaviour, but one that Blake understood well. And at least she was still attempting to sleep, something that could not be said about Yang, who had finally been coaxed into her bunk a few hours ago and even then, she'd strained against resting until her exhaustion had took over and she'd mercifully dozed off. 

Blake watched Yang sleep, trying to ignore the look of agony that was still present on her face, even in her resting hours. It wouldn't do to wake Yang - being awake wouldn't make her feel any better, and she desperately needed the sleep. Blake needed the sleep, too, but with the ship getting closer and closer to their destination, it was important that at least one of them was immediately available if more Grimm showed up. She touched Yang's face gently, fingertips featherlight against Yang's cheek, careful not to wake her.

The empty space on the bunk, small as it was, looked so inviting. She couldn't sleep, but it wouldn't hurt to lay down and rest her eyes for a bit.

Blake carefully curled up on the bunk, pressing into Yang's back, arm slung over Yang's waist. _'I'll just, rest for a few minutes, it'll be fine,'_ she thought to herself. She nuzzled into the back of Yang's neck, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

Fire crept into her dreams, or maybe her dreams started in fire - it was hard to say. But she was dreaming and there was fire. Not as the focus, not at first. At first, it was just a backdrop, present but unimportant. A small, vague concept in her dreamscape, a distant brushfire that gave off no smoke, was unmoved by any wind.

But it kept growing, and growing, and growing, until it was an inferno, spiraling around her like a tornado and she was trapped in the eye of it. Her legs were desperate to run, to flee, to escape, but there was nowhere to go. The heat was overwhelming, suffocating, and Blake, panicked and terrified, couldn't breathe. Her lungs expanded and shrank, air went in, air went out, but she couldn't breathe.

Soon the fire was as hot as a branding iron, searing her skin, and the lance of pain jolted Blake awake, her aura sparking as she rolled off the bunk.

The bunk that was engulfed in flames.

"Yang!"

Blake shot to her feet, getting as close as she could before the buffer of heat made her wince. Inside the massive tongues of fire, Yang remained curled up in a fitful sleep. Tears beaded in her eyes and slid down her cheeks, the water untouched by the immense heat that seemed to scorch every molecule of Blake's skin. The blankets were turning black around Yang's body, crinkling to ash under her grasping fingers, but Yang herself appeared unharmed.

Panting and panicked, Blake reached out, hissing when the flames scorched her skin easily through her aura. She refocused, concentrated on strengthening the aura around her hands and arms. Then she grit her teeth and reached back into the fire, hands searing as she cupped Yang's face.

"Yang!" she called again, desperate, tears building in her own eyes.

They fell to her cheeks and immediately dissipated, evaporated by the scorching heat of the fire.

Yang's eyes finally snapped open, but they weren't the red that Blake expected. They were her usual lilac, but the colour bled out at the corners in a way that was hauntingly, sickeningly familiar.

Panicked by the fire, Yang jerked in the bed, hands still fisted in the sheets. Electricity crackled and arced around her body in a flash, then the sheets started to freeze under Yang's palms, the frosty white spreading out and over the material, unaffected by the flames still sprouting from the bed. Wind howled as it gusted through the room - a gale so powerful that it slammed into Blake and almost lifted her off her feet.

"Yang!" Blake called again, terrified and unable to understand. "Please! It's okay!"

Yang's eyes looked at her, focused on her and actually saw her, widening in shock and surprise. Gasping for breath, Yang finally seemed to become aware - the flames began to fade, the wind disappeared, and the colour of her eyes stopped bleeding out the edges. Yang took another breath and the last of the energy in the room dispersed. All that remained was the burnt and frozen blanket, and Blake's tattered aura, which ached in relief. Then Yang crumbled, reaching up to smother her face in her hands, choking on a breath as she sobbed.

Exhausted and confused, all Blake could do was slide her hands around Yang's shoulders and pull her up into a half-sitting position, tugging her into a tight embrace. "Shh, shh," Blake comforted, frantically rocking Yang in her arms, adrenaline spiking through her own body like lightning strikes. "You're okay. It's okay. I've got you."

Blake couldn't think of anything else to say. Even the words she could say felt worthless and inept. She couldn't think of anything at all, her mind torn and caught on every awful thing. Of Ruby, unconscious and free-falling, of the way Weiss had crumbled with one look, of Yang with the undeniable eyes of a maiden.

"I don't want this," Yang cried. "I never wanted this. Why is it always me?" She shook violently, and even though she didn't say anything more, she didn't have to. Blake already knew.

Why was Yang always the one left behind? The one who the world seemed content to take from and never give? To kick when she was already down?

Blake held Yang tight, unable to say anything that would offer comfort. She could say "I'm here" because it was the one thing she knew to be true, but was that any comfort at all? Shaking off her self-doubt, Blake squeezed Yang close and held her, hoping her presence was enough.

"I didn't want this," Yang said again, voice barely above a whisper - a broken murmur against Blake's skin. "I didn't want her to—if—she—she's—" Yang shook her head, unable to put her emotions into coherent thought.

Yang's hand curled into fists, clenching the fabric of Blake's jacket, and her whole body tensed, inhaling deeply. Blake just kept running soothing hands over Yang's shoulders, and wondered when someone would rush into the room to check on them after all the calamity. Wondered if she would even hear them approach over the heavy heartbeats thudding in her ears.

Another shuddering breath rocked Yang's frame against Blake and she focused, now more concerned by the lack of response from everyone else. There was no way Yang's awakening had been quiet enough to go unnoticed, right? As Yang's breathing evened and the sobs dissipated, another sound caught Blake's ears - the ship's siren, wailing above deck, enveloped by howling winds and the snarl of Grimm and gunfire.

"Yang," Blake said, gripping her partner's arms firmly. "I'm sorry but we need to go on deck. I can hear fighting."

Yang exhaled and fell still, solid as if her whole body had suddenly been vulcanized by the inferno she'd just been through.

"Right, later," Yang said, pulling away. She dried the last of her tears with one quick, brusque motion. "I'll think about this. Later. Fight Grimm now. Save my sister now. Everything else can come later."

As she stood, separating from Blake's embrace, their hands fell together and stayed interlocked. A reminder of how close their relationship was to becoming something else. At least, that's how it felt for Blake, who stared at the hand in hers and thought about Yang's words. Time to fight Grimm. Time to save Ruby. No time for anything else. Not right now.

Blake let Yang's hand go.

The two nodded at each other, Yang's gaze unfocused as she went into autopilot, securing her gauntlet and then rushing upstairs, Blake on her heels with Gambol already unsheathed, Shroud in her off hand.

 _If this is the life of a huntress,_ Blake thought, emerging on deck to a swarm of Nautigulls and the screech of a Wyvern. _It's no life at all._

—

Weeks later, Weiss, Blake, and Yang sat beside Ruby's hospital bed, watching as her eyelids fluttered but remained closed. It had happened so many times already, but every time Yang expected Ruby to finally awaken. Her breath hitched in anticipation. But just like all those times before, Ruby stayed asleep.

Blake's fingers circled Yang's wrist and Weiss leaned into her side, both offering comfort. Yang sighed and brushed aside Ruby's bang's, now streaked with a solid chunk of white hair, careful not to touch the jagged scar that bisected Ruby's right eye.

Ruby's eyes fluttered again. She groaned and shifted, and Yang's hand clenched. Ruby inhaled sharply and then, "Five more minutes," she mumbled, voice hoarse and weak.

It was the first thing she'd spoken since she'd gotten to the hospital.

Choking on a sob, Yang let out a watery chuckle, relief breaking like a tide over her body. Still tense and wary, Blake managed a stiff laugh. Weiss, trained to remain composed at all times but rarely managing to do so, sniffed heavily. Every emotion flashed in rapid succession across her face - grief, relief, disbelief, ire.

"I'm sorry. Excuse me," Weiss said, in an overly dramatic tone. "All this time and her first waking words are _five more minutes_? Ruby," she said, addressing her leader directly, assuming Ruby could hear her (they'd all been assuming that for the past few days, talking and reading to her, making sure she wasn't alone). "Ruby you've been asleep for _five days_."

Ruby's brow furrowed, but her eyes remained closed. After a long and drawn out pause, she mumbled, "Oh. One more minute then."

Finally, Ruby's eyes opened, the left bright and silver, the right pale and milky and still an irritated pink in some areas. She reached up with her free hand, touching around the eye gently. "Huh," she said.

"Yeah," Yang confirmed.

She knew what is was like to wake up, missing a part of yourself. But to have it be something so vital to saving the world? That was something Yang couldn't fathom at all.

Maria had assured them that Ruby's powers would be intact as long as one eye was in working order, but it left Yang wondering about possible side effects. Would Ruby's powers be half as effective now? Or would they be twice as stressful on her body? This loss alone was a lot to think about, and Ruby still didn't know what else they had lost.

In the back corner of the room, Harbinger sat, resting against an empty chair that wouldn't ever be filled again. Yang tried not to think about it, or the shattered remains of Crescent Rose that they'd had to leave behind.

Instead, Yang watched as her sister took in her teammates, face pinched in a way that meant she was worried but didn't want to say anything. She was probably wondering where everyone else was.

At least she couldn't see Harbinger from this angle.

The look on her face eased, and she looked to Blake, to Yang, to Weiss. "Hey," she said.

"Hey, yourself," Weiss said, tearing up for the eighteenth time since they'd carried Ruby here to be treated.

"We were worried about you," Blake said, leaning forward to press a kiss to Ruby's crown - an action that left a vivid blush on Ruby's pallid complexion.

Weiss can do nothing but nod in agreement, too choked up to say anything else.

"How are you feeling?" Yang asked, unable to stop watching her sister and noticing all the ways she had already trying to adjust to make up for her missing eye.

Ruby turned her head, a stiff and awkward movement, and looked at Yang's prosthetic hand. "I think," Ruby said, pausing to wet her dry lips. Her voice is still uncharacteristically quiet and straining, unable to generate much volume. "I feel like," she started a new sentence, paused again, already looking exhausted just from being awake. She held her free hand in front of Yang, curled into a fist. "You and I have great hand-eye co-ordination."

Weiss dropped Ruby's hand and groaned, covering her face, though everyone could tell it was more to hide her relieved tears than out of actual annoyance. Yang fistbumped her sister, choking back her laughter while Blake let out a relieved bark of her own, her wide grin betrayed by teary eyes. 

"Good to have you back, Ruby," Blake said.

"I love you, Rubes," Yang said. "But don't ever tell that joke to Dad."

**Author's Note:**

> this was originally supposed to be part of something bigger, but I have too many projects on the go right now so here


End file.
